


The Alliance

by no_shit_Sherlock



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Gen, Post-Crocodile Tears, Spoilers, and inevitably find out his secret, repost from FanFiction.net, reused gadgets cos I'm lazy, the basic Alex's school gets attacked fic, where all of his grade goes to SAS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-11-04 01:06:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10980144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_shit_Sherlock/pseuds/no_shit_Sherlock
Summary: After the events in Kenya, Alex Rider comes back to school. It's a day before his birthday and he just wants it to be normal. Unfortunately, normal isn't something that's possible for Alex. When a past enemy comes to his school, who is it?Triads?Scorpia?Snakeheads?or could it possibly be... all of the above





	1. Alex Rider is Back! ...to School

**Author's Note:**

> If you recognize this story, I originally wrote it on fanfiction.net but I've decided that I prefer this site's form of posting stories than fanfiction.net
> 
> There will not be much romance in the story (if at all) just because I don't personally like including romance.
> 
> I have 5 chapters written as of writing this but after those chapters go up I will take a while. Sorry, I'm bad at keeping schedules. I don't have an official Beta so if you notice any mistakes please tell me so I can improve my writing. Fanfiction is a great outlet because you don't have to build a world or characters from scratch.
> 
> Finally, chapters will be inconsistent in length. I stop a chapter when it best suits the story, not at a certain word length.

Alex Rider was finally going back to school. For the typical adolescent, it’s a day that’s dreaded. But for Alex, it’s a relief. His “job” — alongside the usually scarring aftermath of it — tended to keep him away from his education for weeks at a time. It wasn’t really being at school that pleased Alex, it was the whole being recovered enough to even be at school that he enjoyed.

When put not so vaguely, Alex is a spy. The thing a lot of kids want to be, and he is forced to be. At 14 he has seen more than most grown men would ever see in their entire life. His most recent assignment had even gotten him admitted to a special hospital reserved for undercover agents — St. Dominic's.

Now, while riding his bike to school, he wondered what his fellow year 10 classmates would think of him. They had been getting more and more suspicious as his missions continued. It was inevitable as the constant excuse of him being sick made little sense considering Alex wouldn’t show any symptoms of sickness in any of the leading days before he abruptly disappears. Some students who disliked Alex or just didn’t know him well had even begun spreading rumors about him having joined a gang or simply just being a delinquent. He always found this to be ridiculous. He would be out in the field, taking out criminals; all while his classmates sat on their nosy asses, believing him to be one. 

Alex sighed, gripping the handles of his bike harder — his knuckles turning white. He tried to avoid thinking about his forced employment, but it doesn’t help that Tom constantly wants to talk about it. Alex understood why. For Tom, being a spy was living the dream. If only he knew the nightmares it gave Alex — awake or asleep. 

For those who don’t know, Tom Harris was Alex’s best friend and one of the very few people who knew the truth about what he did. The only others that know are Sabina Pleasure and Jack Starbright. Respectively, one of Alex’s closest friends and his legal guardian.

Alex pulled the handbrake and stopped his bike with the front wheel aligning itself perfectly in the rack. He dismounted the bike and bent over to lock it, wincing, as his back was still sore from the burns he received on the last mission. He clicked the padlock shut before slowly standing back up. He stretched out his back as much as he could without shooting intense pain across his body.

"Alex!"

The yell was faint and sounded way too happy to belong to a teenager this early in the morning. Yet a teenager is exactly who the voice belonged to — Tom Harris, to be precise. Alex turned to Tom at the exact moment the overly excited teen crashed into the ground. The culprit of Tom’s tumble: an out of place stone. Alex didn’t laugh much, but even he chuckled as he walked over to greet his friend.

"I'm ashamed of you, Tom." Alex scolded when he reached the fallen boy. "We've known each other for such a long time and you never told me about your close relationship to the dirt."

"Shut up," Tom grumbled. Alex reached out his arm to help Tom up. Tom grabbed the offered hand and pulled himself to his feet. After he brushed himself off, Tom began to interrogate Alex. 

"Where have you been? Were you out with a fever or something?" The “or something” had been said in a sly tone. Clearly indicating Tom knew he hadn’t been sick.

“You know why I was out Tom.” Alex sighed. While Tom was a great outlet for him to talk to about his secret, sometimes Alex just knew that Tom would understand how stressful and dangerous his life had truly become.

"Does it have anything to do with why you disappeared during the Greenfields trip?" Tom continued. When Alex hesitantly nodded Tom added, “You will tell me about it, right?"

"I’ll tell you later, although I'm not entirely sure you’ll like what you hear," Alex said, grimacing. He heard other students approaching and decided it was best to switch to a less classified topic of conversation.

"We better get inside. I don't want my first day back to include being yelled at by Mrs. Cod for being late to Maths." Alex said to Tom. His friend nodded in agreement and they walked together into the building.

Of course, there was still plenty of time to get to class, Alex had just wanted an excuse to go inside. They took seats next to each other, among the few students who arrive early for extra studying. The rest of the class slowly drifted in with their respective clumps of friends. Mrs. Cod walked into the classroom and was getting ready to close the door when Steven Johnson burst through it, arriving seconds before the bell.

"Mr. Johnson, please learn to get to class on time without having to run. It's a safety hazard to the student body." Mrs. Cod said, prompting the entire class to stop their chatter and turn towards them. The reprimanded boy’s face turned redder than a nasty sunburn as he sheepishly made his way to an empty seat.

"I was told by Principal Bray to say that you'll be having an assembly through your fourth class." Mrs. Cod announced as she walked to her small desk. The class began to murmur amongst themselves and Mrs. Cod shushed them immediately, telling them to do the warm up written on the board.

Mrs. Cod was the perfect example of the stereotypical maths teacher. She wore a plain white blouse tucked into a long brown skirt with a cream colored cardigan that only had the middle button done. For shoes, she always had sensible brown flats. Her graying hair was pulled into a tight bun at the top of her head although a few strands had fallen out, framing her stern face. She wore no jewelry but did have a chain around her neck which held her reading glasses — which she placed on to call roll.

In her slow and monotonous voice, she called out the names and just as slowly, everyone responded. She looked down at her list and almost skipped past the name for their somewhat constant absences.

"Alex Rider." She called out. Almost right after she called it she started saying the next name before —

"Here" 

At least two-thirds of the class stopped doing their warm up and turned to face the voice that rang out. Alex, the owner of the voice, hid his slight surprise and whispered to his friend.

"Tom, why are they staring at me?"

Tom responded with a shrug and knowing smirk, "Maybe they just didn't expect you to be here today. You are absent an awful lot." Alex only sighed and rolled his eyes. 'What had MI6 done to him?' He thought, 'his own school mates were surprised to even see him in class.'

"Druggie Rider? I thought the dude had finally gotten himself arrested." One of the more arrogant kids in his class sneered. A few of the kids around him snickered at this comment.

"There will be no name-calling in my classroom!" Mrs. Cod snapped, "I will see you after class Brian! You too Alex."

"What did I do?" Alex asked a bit wide-eyed.

"Nothing." Mrs. Cod said, reassuring him. "I need to make sure you’re keeping up with the rest of the class now that you’re better."

"Oh," Alex replied.

Even though Alex had been out for two weeks he understood the basics of what they were doing. Primarily because Tom had sent him the notes. After another hour of maths, the class came to an end as the bell rang. Brian tried to unsuccessfully sneak out of the classroom, only worsening his punishment.

"See you in history. " Tom said as he left to go to his next class. Alex nodded and walked up to the teacher's desk hearing the end of Mrs. Cod’s lecture.

" — given you a day of detention, but since you decided to pull that little escape at the end of class I’ve decided you deserve a week of detention." Mrs. Cod announced, "You are dismissed."

Brian just scowled and purposely bumped into Alex on his way out.

"Alex," Mrs. Cod said, "Has he said things like that before? Have other students been calling you names?"

"No mam." Alex lied, trying to sound like he was shocked at what had happened. In reality, the name 'druggie' started being used after the science wing exploded. Maybe it had even been before then, but that was the first time Alex heard the name calling.

"Alright Alex," Mrs. Cod sighed, "If it happens again please tell me. Based on your work today in class you seem to be keeping up okay. You’re still a bit behind for the test next week. I can’t give you any sort of extension but just do the study guide and you’ll be fine. If you’re having any problems I’m having a Q and A session after school the day before the test. You can go ahead to your next class now.” Alex thanked her before heading out the door.

"Rider." A voice growled behind him as he left. Alex sighed already knowing the owner of the voice.

"Yes Brian," Alex replied, not turning towards him. He just continued walking as Brian followed him through the halls.

"Look at me when I talk to you." Brian snarled. When Alex didn't reply to this he continued, "What? Do you think you’re better than me or something? You skip school to get high. You have as much value as the shit in the loo."

"I’d suggest not cursing, you’ll just get yourself in more trouble," Alex said, continuing on his way to class. Unfortunately, the halls were empty by this point so there was no sea of students to lose Brian in.

"You smug little—" Brian started.

Alex stopped walking, turned around and faced Brian. He opened his mouth and calmly replied. "My next class is around the corner. All I have to do is take a couple of steps, the teacher will hear your filthy language and you’ll be in trouble again. To avoid that misfortune, I suggest you walk away. You’re not worth my time and surely I’m not worth your time.”

Brian looked like he was going to spit a retort before huffing and brushing past Alex, bumping into him on purpose for a second time that day. Alex didn’t even bother looking after Brian as he stomped away like the two-year-old he acted like. Instead, Alex turned the corner and walked into his second period.

Time passed quickly for Alex. His second period began, ended, and before he knew it, the end of his third period was quickly approaching. His third period was a history course taught by a man named Charles Yarrow. Mr. Yarrow elected to have his class line up a few minutes ahead of time so that they could efficiently head to the auditorium. Unfortunately for him, he decided to mention that the order the class lines up in is how they would be sitting.

As soon as those words left his lips the class was in chaos. All the adolescents were pushing, shoving, and squirming; trying to get to where all of their friends stood. Alex was just going to stay where he was when two of his friends in the class pulled him to the back of the line. One was Tom and the other was James Hale.

"The assembly is going to be boring, I can already tell." Tom explained, "I forgot to bring my earbuds so that means that I'm going to want to talk to you and James the whole time. The only way we can manage that is if we sit in back."

James looked as though he was going to say something but was cut off by Mr. Yarrow, "Alright class, settle down and we can head to the auditorium."

When Alex’s class got to the auditorium they happened to be one of the last classes to arrive. The first thing Alex noticed was Mr. Bray standing on the stage attempting to adjust the mic stand. He was about to look around more when Mr. Yarrow ushered him into his seat. He sat down in the aisle seat of the back row of the center section. James sat to Tom’s right, who sat to Alex’s right. Other students filled in around them, everyone seemingly talking at once.

"Quiet down!" Mr. Bray yelled out. He repeated the order a few more times and eventually, the whole auditorium was silent, "Thank you. To explain why this last minute assembly was called I would like Mr. Gilbert to come up. You all are very fortunate to have this assembly today and I would like you to give the utmost respect to every speaker."

Once Mr. Bray finished speaking he stepped away from the mic stand to allow Mr. Gilbert to speak. Mr. Gilbert was not one for fancy introductions so he went directly to the purpose.  
"A couple of scientists heard about how the year 10 class's field trip to Greenfields got cut short. So... they decided to come here to inform us about genetically modified or GM foods! Isn't that great?" There were a few scattered claps but for the most part, everyone stayed silent.

Mr. Gilbert looked apologetically over at the scientists standing offstage. He cleared his throat and repeated, "I said, isn't that great?!" Everyone was a bit shocked by their science teacher's outburst but started clapping loudly anyways.

"That's what I thought." Mr. Gilbert muttered too quietly for anyone to hear, "Let's give another hand for the scientists!" The auditorium was filled with another round of clapping from the less than unenthusiastic students as the scientists came out onto the stage.

"And here I thought it was going to be boring…" Tom whispered to James and Alex, "It's going to be way worse." Alex and James nodded in agreement.

It was then Alex noticed that it wasn't just the two scientists who were new in here. There were burly men and women dressed in black, blocking all possible exits out of the auditorium. Alex knew they weren’t there when his class entered so where had they come from? Alex nudged Tom and motioned towards the people. Tom now noticed the added people and furrowed his brow in confusion. No one else besides Alex and Tom seemed to have noticed the guard-like people.

“Maybe they’re like, really important scientists?” Tom whispered. Alex didn’t believe that to be the case but he couldn’t make a scene about it now. He decided it was best to at least appear to be paying attention to the scientists.

One was male and the other female. They both had green eyes with golden flecks. They each also had hair the color of a starless night. Alex thought they might be related, but something was just… off.

"Thank you for having us here today. My sister and I couldn't be happier." The male said. Alex noted that he didn't say their names. Actually, no one had mentioned their names, not even Mr. Bray or Mr. Gilbert. Isn’t that typically the first part of a speech, an introduction? So far he knew nothing about them except that they were GMO scientists. A vague job description within itself.

"He's right. Science is amazing! Science… is life." The second scientist added. She had a large smile plastered on her face.

"It’s fake," Alex whispered. As he said the word it made more and more sense. He knew something was off about them. Everything about them was just… fake.

"Now before we start talking about genetically modified foods we'd like to call up a student who we heard that from our friends at Greenfield, is passionate about the study of GM foods. When we call their name they should immediately come join my sister and I up here on stage." The male said, his voice displaying fake enthusiasm.

The female cleared her throat before saying, "We'd like to call up… Alex Rider." The house lights came up as they waited for the lucky student to come up.

It was then a crack appeared in the facade. Both scientists still held almost comic smiles, but their eyes were narrow slits aimed directly at Alex and seething with utter loathing.


	2. Undercover Enemies Uncovered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being called up, Alex has a decision to make. But could these Greenfield's scientists be nefarious? Or is Alex's paranoia starting to get the best of him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read the notes read them after you finish the story. The end notes do contain a spoiler for this chapter.

“Alex,” Tom whispered. “Do not go up there. For some reason, I feel as though they’re not calling you up for scientific purposes.”

James leaned over and muttered. “How the bloody hell did that happen? You weren’t even there for ninety percent of the trip.”

“Maybe it was just some sort of mix-up,” Alex responded, deciding whether or not to take the bait someone must have been throwing.

“Alex Rider,” The male scientist called out, the fake smile cracking. “No need to have stage fright.”

“He’s always really sick,” one girl called out.

“Probably still out with the fever,” Another yelled. Alex didn’t recognize the who was speaking. However, it was a rather old auditorium so everybody’s voice just kind of echoed and blended together.

“You really believe that bullshit? He must have a hangover.” Alex rolled his eyes. No hangover lasts over a week.

“Quiet down!” Mr. Gilbert yelled. “There will be no foul or cruel language against other students, Mr. Andrews. You now have the privilege of reporting to the Headmaster’s office.”

The teenager being scolded immediately stood up, but his walk of shame was promptly cut short when Mr. Gilbert added. “After the assembly,” 

Gilbert paused a moment to sigh. Then, unfortunately, he continued.

“Alex, I saw you in the hall this morning. Quit wasting our guests’ time and come to the stage. It will make the assembly go much more smoothly. I know that you at least like science. As quite recently you have demonstrated your fiery passion for it.” Not so secretly hinting at the science wing incident. Alex was fairly certain all of the science department still held a grudge against him for that.

Cautiously, Alex stood up. Tom immediately reached up and tried to sit him back down, but Alex just pushed Tom away from him.

“Ale-”

“Tom, I’ll be okay. Take my cell, if things start looking bad, type in the numbers 911 on my cell.”

“911, isn’t that the American version of 999?”

“Yes, it’s how I contact MI6. 999 would be too obvious but my phone is rigged so that the second the 3rd number is typed in it releases a message for help. They designed it after- Scorpia.”

“I get to use a spy gadget! Cool.”

“First of all it’s just a cell phone; second of all, you should hope you don’t have to use it… for everyone’s sake.”

“Right, sorry.” Alex left it at Tom’s apology and made his way down towards the stage. The auditorium was crappy but it was rather large. Alex would have been lying if he had said that he didn’t feel slightly awkward.

He was finally at the edge of the stage. But, in order to get onto the stage, he had to pass one of the guards who was blocking the few steps up to the stage. The guards weren’t all wearing uniforms; the only similarity of their outfits being the color black. The particular guard blocking Alex’s path was wearing a plain black tee and even plainer black jeans.

"Excuse me," Alex said, trying to move past him. The guard moved a step to the side, glaring daggers at Alex as he passed. As Alex walked by he noticed something on the guard's arm that made him freeze. The sleeve covered up part of it but he could still make out the tattoo quite clearly. It was part of a red circle.

‘The Big Circle?’ Alex wondered to himself. There is no way that he pissed them off enough to try to hunt down where and who he was. Alex hoped it really wasn't there. Maybe he was just paranoid, and his mind was playing tricks on him.

"Alex? Alex?" Mr. Gilbert snapped his fingers in Alex's face, which snapped Alex out of his thoughts.

"There you are. Your classmates are waiting. Please go up on stage."

Alex nodded and quickly walked up the steps, slowing down when he reached the stage. Cautiously, he made his way over to the no longer smiling science professors.

"Alex," The female scientist started in her high-pitched and very annoying squeaky voice. "It’s great to finally meet you!"

Her smile came back showing off all of her slightly crooked teeth. She reached out to shake hands with Alex, and he then made one last attempt to get away from them.

“I’m sorry,” He started, deciding how to say his next words very carefully. “Biology isn’t even my best subject. I am completely positive that my grade in that class is at most a C-.”

This wasn’t a lie. Even with his constant absences, Alex managed to keep a B in all classes, besides Science.

“Come on Alex, don’t be so modest,” The male scientist said as though they were in casual conversation, although his expression was completely emotionless. Now that Alex was close to the scientists he could make out something eerily familiar about the two of them. Focusing on trying to remember their faces, Alex almost missed what the scientist said next.

“Zeljan Kurst, our superior; specifically told us to find Alex Rider. He said that-”

“Zeljan Kurst?” Mr. Gilbert interrupted with a very confused expression on his face. “I’m sorry I don’t seem to remember that name. I thought the head of Greenfields was Leonard Straik.”

“Oh… yes, it was. I am afraid Mr. Straik had a rather… unfortunate accident with a Cone Snail.”

“My goodness, will he be alright?” For a man that Mr. Gilbert only talked to over a couple emails, he seemed rather concerned. It was probably because Greenfields gave them the field trip opportunity and now the scientist visit. And both were all for free.

“No, I’m afraid he has passed away.”

“What on earth happened?” Mr. Gilbert wondered. It would have been much better for Mr. Gilbert if he had only held no concern for the deceased.

“We’ll show you.” The female scientist had unknowingly reached into a case that was laying down at the front of the stage and was now wearing a glove and holding a shell around the size of a teacup in her palm.

Mr. Gilbert looked slightly in awe, “Is that…” he started.

“You see,” She said, inching her way towards him. “A man slipped the snail out of its marbleized shell.” She then proceeded to grasp the shell with her ungloved hand and pulled the mollusk out slowly with the gloved hand. Alex realizing what was going to happen stepped towards her, but the male scientist put his hand on his shoulder in a firm grip.

“Then the man,” She continued, less than a foot away from Mr. Gilbert. “Took the mollusk and shoved it down Straik’s throat.” 

Without a pause, she forced Mr. Gilbert’s mouth open and shoved her gloved hand inside it. Mr. Gilbert froze for a second, then dropped to his knees and vomited on the stage. His hands clutched around his throat as he lashed around, attempting to breathe. Even though it was obvious the two were not real scientists from Greenfields, they were both aware that the snail had been modified to kill its prey at least double the speed. The audience was petrified as Mr. Gilbert choked on his now swollen tongue and uvula. A minute later all was still.

Then the panic kicked in. The audience jumped from their seats and ran towards the exits, screaming. The multiple guards by the exit doors jumped into action, blocking the doors and herding the students back to their seats.

The male scientist impersonator twisted Alex’s arm behind his back and pushed him down onto his knees. The female acquaintance pulled out a small gun which she shot into the air, the loud sound echoing off the auditorium’s walls. The unexpected shock brought silence to the auditorium.

“Finally, it’s quiet.” She projected out into the auditorium. “It better stay this exact way the entire time that I am speaking or else the next time I fire a bullet, it won’t be into those ugly curtains.”

For the first time in Alex’s life, his peers took an adult seriously. She smiled a true, almost sadistic smile. As if she was enjoying the terror-stricken eyes of children. She loudly cleared her throat and then began talking.

“Quite obviously by now, I am no ‘Greenfields genetics scientist’. My real name is, Dr. Myra Bennett.” Alex’s eyes widened as he remembered who he was.

“No!” He shouted. “You’re dead. I saw you! You were stabbed in the back and then devoured by crocodiles. Besides, you don’t even look like her.”

Bennett looked confused for a moment. Her face relaxed as she rolled her eyes, waving the gun around as she talked to Alex like the weapon was just some child’s toy.

“Right,” She chuckled. “I had some important final tests to run on the potatoes, so I sent my sister Marina in my place. Which brings me as to why I stand here today!” Her nonchalant like demeanor vanished in seconds, replaced with a hard gaze, and chilling fury. Her right arm stiffened as she pointed the weapon between Alex’s eyes. Alex held his breath as he waited for what she might do. Slightly lowering the lethal weapon, she addressed the audience instead.

"Your classmate Alex Rider is responsible for the deaths of both, my identical twin sister: Marina Bennett, and of my poor fiancé: Desmond McCain. Is this not true, Alex?" Myra glared at Alex as if daring him to go against her. And naturally, he did.

"Your sadistic sister was not my fault. That was the crocodile. But as for your fiancé," Alex paused, wincing as he remembered what happened, his back aching from the burns. He took a deep breath and then continued. "McCain was trying to kill me. It was completely self-defense. I am sorry but that is what it unfortunately had to come to."

"You will pay you pathetic brat!" Myra screeched. She charged at Alex and hit him on the left side of his face with the butt of her gun. The strike was hard enough to send him flailing to the ground, out of the other scientist's grip.

Myra attempted to strike Alex again, but was pulled back by one of the guards.

"Myra," The male scientist impersonator spoke for the first time since the big reveal. "Calm down. Kurst ordered us to take the boy alive." He stepped over Alex as if the bleeding teen wasn't there. Alex tried to lift himself off the floor and look up at the two but his vision was slowly blurring and his arm muscles were shaking under his weight.

"The pest deserves to die." Myra spat out, adding at the last second. "You and I both know that… Ash."

'No.' Was Alex's final thought before he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that happened. I swear not all of the chapters will end on the semi-cliffhangers I seem to like to do. I end the chapter where it makes sense. Since this chapter is generally limited to Alex's perspective, I had to end it when he passed out.
> 
> One thing about Myra: No she does not have a twin. I added Marina in just because I wanted to use Desmond’s fiance as a method of motive, but didn't want to completely ignore canon. I already planned on the male being Ash but I wanted to include a female antagonist for this section.


	3. What Happens in the Auditorium, Stays in the Auditorium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place when Alex wakes up after getting knocked out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: No medical knowledge whatsoever. Everything is certainly wrong.

Alex woke up in a white room. He was lying on an uncomfortable white bed that made his still healing back ache. Alex began to push himself up, but fell back and groaned at a sharp pain that suddenly appeared towards the back of his head.

“You probably shouldn’t move so quickly,” A voice to his right said. “The doctor said that the blow to your head gave you a minor concussion.”

Alex slowly turned to his right, his eyes brightening as he saw who it was.

“Jack.” He said, relieved that it wasn’t someone from MI6... or worse.

Jack smiled down at him and he smiled back. Well, it was more of a wince-- he didn’t possess the ability to remember how to smile. He turned away from Jack and focused his attention to the white room. It was very bland, the only other features aside from his cot-like bed being a couple chairs. He closed his eyes and sighed, collapsing back onto his pillow. A decision he immediately regretted when a sharp pain shot through his skull. 

“I’m back in the hospital, aren’t I.” Alex groaned.

“I’m sorry, Alex.” Jack said, even though she was the last person that needed to be apologizing to him. “I don’t really know any of the details, all MI6 revealed to me is that once they got into the school, they found you knocked out. What happened?”

Alex slowly retold the day’s events, starting from when he entered the auditorium to when he discovered who the two scientists were. Jack’s eyebrows noticeably narrowed when Alex said what he believed was the real name of the male scientist.

“Isn’t Ash dead?” Was her only question.

“I understand Myra, as she told me what had happened.” Alex replied, “But Ash… I saw Ben shoot him. He can’t be alive, it’s impossible.”

“If that bastard is alive, I will hunt him down and kill him myself!” Jack growled. Alex shifted on the bed, surprised by Jack’s reaction.

“Oh, sorry. It’s just, he’s the reason…” Jack said, attempting to soften her voice. “You have lost so much, and it’s all because of him. Your own godfather! How are you not pissed?”

“I know I should be, but after so much happening in so little time. I just don’t have the energy to be angry right now.” Alex answered quietly. Jack looked as though she was about to say more when the door opened.

Tulip Jones entered first, sucking on a peppermint as always. Alan Blunt, the head of MI6 followed her. The third and final person entered right after Mr. Blunt. She was average looking and wore a white lab coat; also carrying a clipboard with a pen. 

The lab coat woman walked over and stood next to Alex, opposite Jack. 

“Is he free to go Ms. Halliday?” Alan Blunt asked with his expressionless face. Ms. Halliday had been doing the usual check up tests with Alex. Currently she was shining a light into his eyes.

“Miraculously, he has only received a minor concussion. So yes he can go. But, no running or anything that’s physically strenuous. What he needs most is rest.” She then directly addressed Alex, first helping him to sit up in the bed. “The pain in your head will subside in a few hours. I do not recommend standing for long stretches of time. Keep a pair of sunglasses on you in case of light sensitivity. Please stay safe, Mr. Rider.”

The doctor picked up her things and after shaking hands with Alex, she left the room. 

Alex pulled the cover off him and slowly brought his legs over the side of the bed. He directly faced Jack, trying to avoid any direct contact with Blunt and Jones.

“As I am sure you are aware there is no time for rest.” Mr. Blunt said, keeping true to his name. “You need to be briefed about what’s to come.”

“Briefed?” Jack questioned, “Alex was almost kidnapped. Or worse, he was almost killed! You better not even be thinking about sending him on a mission.”

“But he wasn’t killed, or captured.” Alan Blunt replied. Jack looked like she was going to strangle him when Ms. Jones cut in,

“There is no need to worry Ms. Starbright. We do not intend to send Alex on a mission, as he is already involved. That would not be tactical. Believe it or not, we do not want him dead.”

“What Alex needs is protection.” Mr. Blunt stated. “As Ms. Jones explained, Alex is directly involved. Scorpia knows where he goes to school as this morning has proved. For all we know they might know where he lives, or even where he hangs out. Alex - and his peers from the assembly - need to be hidden until this matter is resolved.”

“Why would my classmates need to hide?” Alex asked, confused. He didn’t bother asking why Blunt seemed even the slightest bit concerned with protecting him. He already knew Blunt’s motives for trying to protect him. Alex was a weapon to MI6, and a weapon is of no use when it’s broken. But his classmates were just regular teens, whoever’s after him doesn’t care about them.

“A lot was revealed in that auditorium. We have no way of knowing how much your classmates believe to be true.” Ms. Jones explained. “Scorpia might also attempt to intrude into Brooklyn Secondary School again. It is not safe for anyone who was in the auditorium.”

“This is how it will work.” Blunt started to explain, “We will transfer all students at Brooklyn to another school, as we’ll explain that Brooklyn will soon be facing major renovations. Some bacteria was found that could cause the building to collapse. Every student will be transferred, except the students that were in the auditorium. They will be at a safe and secure location with you.”

“Why with Alex?” Jack questioned. “You said you don’t know what the classmates believe. If they don’t already believe he’s a spy, they’ll sure as hell figure it out.”

“That’s why we created a cover story.” Ms. Jones replied. “Myra Bennett was a patient at the hospital you stayed at when you were sick. She was a novelist and had written a novel with events similar to what she explained at the assembly. Her stay at the hospital was for amnesia. You decided to give her the novel she had written in hopes of jogging her memory as to who she was. But, something went wrong. Myra believed the book to be autobiographical and that you had given the book to her just to toy with her emotions and make her suffer. So she hired a dangerous organization and hunted you down. When you realized who she was you were so terrified for your life that you just played into her delusions. After all, you had only wanted to do the right thing.”

Alex couldn’t believe his ears. MI6 wasn’t known to be comedic but it had to be some sort of prank. There is no way they would sincerely consider a cover so bad it wouldn’t even be the plot of a daytime soap opera to hide his very secret identity.

But then Alex found himself, 2 hours later, listening to Ms. Jones recite the exact same tale as the one he was told, with the exact same expression on her face. The only differences were the location and the number of people in the room. Tom, who was sitting next to him had been stifling giggles the entire time.

“Is that seriously the cover? Aren’t they spies? Aren’t spies supposed to be good at making this kind of stuff up? It’s almost like they want the entire school to know who you are. Might as well just have you go up there and shout ‘My name is Alex, and I’m a spy!’” Tom had accidentally said the last part too loudly. Luckily only a couple of people noticed, and all they did was give him a few strange looks. 

Alex glared at Tom and whispered back to him, “If I promise to tell you all about what the hell actually happened, will you stop bloody talking? I also need you to tell me exactly what happened after I was knocked unconscious.” Tom blankly stared at him for a moment and then nodded his head enthusiastically. Alex rolled his eyes. 

Alex scanned the small room they were in, which he believed was the REC room of a church. He didn’t go to a very large school and it was only his year right now, so at most there were 50 students in the room, plus the teachers who were in the auditorium, and legal guardians for all of the students. Needless to say, the room meant for under 100 was jam-packed with people. He looked back towards the small stage and refocused on the MI6 agents.

“If you do not wish for your child to go to our secure location, that is completely up to you. Although, it might mean that their life could possibly be in danger. The organization Bennett aligned herself with is incredibly dangerous and we have no way of knowing what their true motive is. We know that this is a very hard decision to send your child away but just think of it as going to sleep away camp early. The students will be sent back as soon as the threat is neutralized. I can personally guarantee that the longest they’ll have to stay is a month. You do not need to worry about education, as teachers have volunteered to go with them.” Ms. Jones finished, looking rather tired. Anyone would after having to stand up on a stage and attempt to reassure a bunch of parents that everything would be alright. 

“Ms. Jones will now be taking questions.” One of the other MI6 officers stated. Backing away from the mic as quickly as he got there.

“Will we be able to check in with our children while they are away?” One of the parents towards the front asked.

“There are no cell phones allowed but if the parent is willing to go through a background check then we can connect them through one of our secure lines.” Ms. Jones replied. The parent sat down, satisfied with the answer. Another parent, who Alex recognized as James’s mother stood up and asked,

“That brings us to my question. Where exactly will our kids be going?”

“They will be going to-” Tulip Jones was cut off when Alan Blunt decided to step in and take over. Looking relieved, Ms. Jones stepped out of his way and unwrapped a peppermint to suck on.

“The information that is about to be disclosed may never be shared with anyone if you value the safety of your children.” Mr. Blunt started. “The children will be going one of the SAS training camps.”

Alex groaned and fell back in his chair. He shouldn’t even be surprised that MI6 would do that. With his luck, the camp was probably Brecon Beacons.

“In order to ensure that order is kept at the camp between the students and the soldiers, we will be sending an MI6 agent with the students as a supervisor. I now would like for all of you to give your attention to Ben Daniels.” Mr. Blunt gestured over to where the MI6 agent was sitting. Alex rubbed his eyes, he must be really out of it if he missed Ben sitting there the entire time.

Ben walked up to the stage, and Alex was certain it would have been better if Scorpia had just captured him when Ben said the sentence, “If we were in better circumstances, I would be almost happy to work with my old unit again.” 

If the chair wasn’t hard and plastic Alex would have sunk further into it. Not only was some agency of assassins after him, again. But he would have to see one of the worst group of people he had ever encountered out of all of the ‘good guys’ ... K-Unit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say sorry for all the cliches I've used if this wasn't such a standard Alex Rider story. The commentary on the shitty cover story is just me insulting myself because in the stupidly long time I've been writing this I still can't figure out a cover story that isn't stupid.
> 
> Sorry for anyone who wanted to know what happened in the auditorium. SInce the story is limited to Alex's perspective I have to lead into the chapter that's going to be basically Tom explaining to Alex what happened. But don't worry it won't just be Tom poorly explaining what happened. It's going to be flashback style because omniscient POV is too hard but Alex was unconscious so he's kind of useless as the narrator and I want to keep it to people that associate with Alex so that the POVs don't get too crazy.


	4. A New Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something must have happened between Alex getting knocked out and Alex waking up in the hospital. This is what happened. But from a character who was actually awake at the time of the events.

Tom could hear his heartbeat speeding up as his friend made his way onto the stage. Tom’s hand tightly gripped the cell phone, his thumb hovering millimeters away from the keypad. His eyes followed Alex, who was staring at one of the guards positioned at the bottom step to the stage. 

Tom felt an elbow hit his arm and turned towards towards the source.

“Oww,” Tom hissed. “What the hell was that for?”

“I have a question,” James replied.

“Really? A simple tap on the shoulder would have sufficed, James.” Tom whispered back to James.

“Sorry, mate,” James said, completely insincerely. “But why has Alex stopped moving? And why are there so many people in black?” 

“Good questions, but I have some better ones. Why would I know? Do I look like a mind reader or something?” Tom responded. Despite asking the wrong person, James did have a good point. There was loads of security here. The Prime Minister probably didn’t have this many guards when they went out in public. 

Tom left his thoughts and focused back on the stage. The scientists had just revealed that Leonard Straik was dead and now, the female scientist was holding what appeared to be a sort of snail in her palm.

“Cone snail,” James muttered. Tom turned to his friend with a confused expression on his face. James explained without Tom even needing to ask him to. The beauty of close friendship. 

“I read about it when we passed the poison dome at Greenfields. A cone snail, quite obviously, is a mollusk. But it has toxins inside it for protection - toxins that can be fatal to a human. At Greenfields, they were modifying it so the venom that could already kill within minutes would be even faster.”

“Why on earth would they want to do that?” Tom replied with wide eyes.

“Because science? I don't know. Why would they reveal the details to a 15 year-old? Now look at who’s asking the stupid ques-” But James’s sentence was cut short due to his jaw dropping wide in terror. The female scientist had just shoved the shell-less snail into Mr. Gilbert’s mouth. The poor science teacher reacted immediately, squirming for only a few seconds before lying still. Tom remained in his seat - frozen - while the rest of the auditorium began to panic. Even as the guards herded students back to their seats, Tom was still, staring at the corpse. His teacher’s corpse. His teacher whom he had known for years. 

It was only when the female pulled out a gun and created a hole in the ceiling that Tom snapped out of his daze. He realized that when he froze he had dropped the cell phone, so while the scientists continued to threaten everyone, he bent over and swiped his hands below his seat.

By the time Tom found the phone and dialed 911, the woman revealed her name as Myra Bennett. She had just finished explaining that she was alive, and Alex had apparently killed her husband. Tom was about to run down the aisle and attack Myra when he saw that she had knocked out Alex but paused when he heard her say her partner’s name. 

Tom thought for a moment. He knew that name, Ash. His eyes widened with realization from the last time Alex spoke to Tom about his “work”. Ash was the prick who had murdered Alex’s family! But wasn’t he dead? Alex said an agent shot him in the chest! And as far as Tom knew, it was hard to get medical help in the middle of the ocean.

“I apologize for my… associate’s actions. Ever since her husband’s death, she’s been a bit rash.” Ash’s voice was calm and collected. As if the preceding events hadn’t just occurred, as if he had just been chatting with an old friend about the weather.

“So I guess as she is being restrained, I'll be the one speaking now,” Ash said with a terrifying grin. “First, I will explain who I am. My name is Anthony Sean Howell, and I was brought here for him.” here he paused and pointed towards Alex, who had blood trickling down his forehead. “Now, I can explain who this teenage boy knocked out on the stage really is. You all know him as Alex Rider, a schoolmate, and as I heard earlier, apparently a druggie?” Ash raised his brows and turned towards Alex as if expecting him to answer back. But as unconscious people most often were, Alex was quiet.

“But, what you don’t know,” Ash continued. “Is what Alex really does, with all that time away from school. And no, you preppy brats. He does not sell drugs. Alex Rider is a-” But Ash couldn’t reveal the truth. Because, naturally, MI6 has perfect timing and the SAS literally broke down every door into the auditorium. 

As the Scorpia agents were outnumbered, they did not wish to risk fighting with the SAS troops and began to flee. Two rather unfortunate Scorpia members, who had just wanted to perform their duties and capture Alex Rider, met their demise when their feet touched the stage. Both of them were shot in the back by the former SAS soldier, known now as Ben Daniels.

That was the last thing Tom saw before he was ushered out of the auditorium by MI6 agents, alongside many other students. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tom was brought into the cafeteria, the second largest room at Brookland. He scanned the room; the majority of his peers were blankly staring into space, probably in shock. A few were completely in tears, and the others were talking quietly in small groups. 

Towards the back of the room, he spotted James. Tom made his way towards his friend who at the time was awkwardly attempting to comfort a girl. When James saw Tom coming he said something to her, to which she nodded and left the table. 

“What was that about?” Tom asked James, as he had never seen the girl before.

“She was one of my primary school friends. Her family is friends with the Gilberts.” James grimly explained, “Why did all of this happen? And what did Alex have to do with any of it?

“I don’t know,” Tom replied, which wasn’t entirely a lie. He truly did not know why it all happened. 

“Speaking of Alex,” James continued. “Do you know what happened to him when those soldiers saved us?”

“I just know that they,” Tom paused and nodded towards the agents, careful not to say MI6 or SAS as he did not know how informed James was. “Did get him away from those other guys. Whoever they were.” 

Before James had a chance to respond, a woman entered the room. ‘Tulip Jones’ Tom thought, recognizing the agent Alex so frequently described when stating how he got his missions. She matched Alex’s description perfectly; dark skin, even darker hair, and stiff walking, all while sucking on what Tom assumed to be a peppermint. 

She stood on the mini stage that was located towards the front of the cafeteria and began speaking, in an aloof and emotionless voice.

“I am an agent of MI6, British Intelligence. I cannot give out the details of recent events, without the presence of your parents. The school’s staff is currently informing your families and requesting that they do not come to pick any of you up as there might still be danger. You will be meeting up with them in a few hours at a different location when we are assured that the threat has gone away. I ask that you save all questions until the meeting to reduce the mayhem. Thank you for your cooperation” 

As soon as she finished, Tulip Jones immediately left the room. Most likely trying to make sure that no questions could even be thought of, much less asked. There was complete silence, even after she left the room, as though someone had pressed the mute button. Then the unmute button was pressed as shaking voices returned, louder than before. The cafeteria was at this level of noise for what felt like the entire 3 hours and 30 minutes that they were in there. It was then that the MI6 came back in and explained that the students would now be allowed to see their parents in a REC room at a nearby church. Everyone moved as quickly as their feet allowed so they could see their parents as fast as possible.

When he finally found his parents, Tom almost didn’t care that his mother hugged him and kissed his cheek for what seemed like hours. She stopped hugging him only when James’s mom came over. Tom told her he was going to go find his friend, and then walked away. 

Tom walked the entire perimeter of the church’s REC room scanning for his fair haired friend. He finally spotted Alex when he got around to the double doored front entrance. Alex was standing slightly behind the door and talking quietly to his guardian, Jack Starbright, who happened to see Tom first.

“Hello, Tom,” She said in her American accent. “Are you doing alright?”

“Yeah…” Tom quietly replied. Jack gave a sad smile and then walked into the room. 

“I mean, considering I basically did just save the entire school.” Tom continued, not sure whether to be excited or grim. He held up the mobile Alex gave him and threw it to his spy friend, who easily caught it.

“Good call on giving me the phone, by the way.” He added in. Tom didn’t want to think about what might have happened if Alex hadn’t given him the gadget disguised as a cell phone.

“Better safe than dead.” Alex simply replied. It was only then, with the slight wince as Alex spoke, that Tom noticed his friend’s bandaged head.

“Concussion?” He asked, now worried.

“Just a small one,” Alex assured Tom. “We’d better get inside the REC room, the meeting is starting. My plan to have no one notice me isn’t working anyway.” Alex began walking into the room and Tom saw that multiple eyes were following him. From students to teachers, to agents, and even parents. 

Tom felt sympathy for his friend. Even if MI6 could convince his peers that SCORPIA was just a few crazy people, nobody at Brookland, possibly in London, was going to look at Alex Rider the same way again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I post chapters at midnight? No idea. But it has happened quite a few times for this story.
> 
> I would like to openly apologize on the rare chance that anyone actually looks forward to this story as scheduled chapter releases are very unlikely to happen.


	5. Not a Very Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Alex's birthday, but it seems like the only present he's gonna get is from Mr. Smithers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. IDK if anyone has figured out when I decide to post a new chapter, although that's probably a good thing.

“Good morning, Alex,” Jack said as Alex entered the kitchen. She turned towards him from her spot at the small breakfast table in the center of the room.

“Unless yesterday was a dream, there’s nothing good about it,” Alex responded, taking the seat across from her. He stared at the prepared food in front of him.

“Happy birthday!” Jack said happily, ignoring his shockingly stereotypical teenage moodiness. She noticed what Alex was doing and added, “Quit staring at your food; it’s going to get cold.”

“I’m sorry, but you won’t cook anything that takes more than 10 minutes. This clearly took longer.” Alex returned to staring at the plate. A perfectly cooked omelet, next to two crispy pieces of french toast, and a bowl of various chopped fruits.

“You did just turn 15, so I decided to make something special. Not to mention recent - umm - ‘events’.” Jack explained.

“Jack, I saw the to-go boxes in the trash on my way here. Plus, there are no pans in the sink or on the drying rack,” Alex countered.

Jack rolled her eyes and muttered something along the lines of, “Stupid spy senses.”

“But thank you for the thought.” He said, “It’s nice to have one good meal before I get sent back to that hellhole.”

“I don’t understand why they’re sending you back there! What if someone recognizes you?” Jack exclaimed, her anger reassuring Alex in a strange way. It showed that Jack truly cared for him.

“Why would anyone?” Alex calmly responded. “When I was there, they just believed I was some snobby rich kid.”

Jack sighed. “For your sake, I hope you’re right.” 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The morning passed quickly - a bit too quickly for Alex. Soon it was quarter past noon, and time to head to the car park a few blocks away from Brookland. MI6 figured that it would be a bad idea to meet up at the school as Scorpia was most likely keeping a look out there, so instead, they picked the car park closest to a popular shopping centre. Had it been any other sort of meet up, Alex would have ridden his bike. But due to the particular situation, Jack and Alex decided to just take a cab.

“I thought that you guys weren’t supposed to be there until one?” Jack asked as they got into the cab. She had just realized that it was only a ten-minute drive, so they would get there almost thirty minutes early. 

“They wanted to talk to me before everyone else got there,” Alex responded quietly. He glanced towards the cabbie cautiously. Jack nodded in understanding - of both his response and his caution. It was five minutes later when they pulled up in front of the shopping centre. 

While the cab came to a stop Jack glanced at the nametag of the cabbie and said, “Thank you, Mr. Patrick.” 

Jack and Alex got out of the cab, but Jack went around the front to pay the cabbie, while Alex went to the boot to grab his bag. By the time Alex got his bag out of the boot and had closed it, Jack had paid the cabbie and was walking towards the car park. As Alex walked past the front of the cab, the cab driver looked out the window and stared at him.

“See you around, Alex.” He said as he drove off. Alex froze on the spot. He didn’t remember telling the cabbie his name. Maybe Jack said it when she was getting into the cab. He decided that he would ask her about it when he caught up to her.

Alex rounded the corner and walked into the car park. He looked around until he spotted Jack’s auburn hair. He noticed that she was glaring at both Ms. Jones and Mr. Blunt. None of them had attempted to begin a conversation, which was predictable. Jack didn’t want to ever need to meet them again. And as for Mr. Blunt and Ms. Jones, they were smart enough to know that anything they said would result in the wrath of Jack Starbright.

“Alex.” Ms. Jones said, noticing him first. Seeing Alex approach, Jack stopped trying to burn holes through the leader of British Intelligence with her eyes and crossed over to where Alex had stopped.

“What took you so long?” She asked.

“Sorry, my trainers were untied,” Alex replied, deciding that he would ask Jack when their company wasn't so prying.

“Alright,” Jack said. She then turned towards the two other adults and for the first time, spoke to them.

“Why did you heartless assholes want Alex to be here early, again?”

Ms. Jones chose to ignore the insult and began explaining, “Because of the situation, we cannot do a proper briefing - not that this is meant to be a mission. This trip is more of a safety precaution, for Alex. However, we have decided that he should have some tools on hand, just in case.”

Alex almost smiled because he realized that receiving gadgets meant that Smithers had to be here. Smithers and his spy gadgets were the only things to look forward to during his multiple encounters with the MI6. He then looked around, wondering how he hadn’t noticed a man of Smithers' proportions before. Smithers then appeared, stepping out of the front seat of a van. He opened up the trunk of the vehicle and gestured for Alex to come over.

Alex had begun walking towards Smithers when Jack grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Who is that?” She asked cautiously. Alex looked at her a bit confused before realizing that Jack had never met Smithers.

“That’s Smithers, he creates all the gadgets. He’s the only one I’ve seen at MI6 who doesn’t act like he has a stick up his arse.” Alex explained. Jack didn’t respond but did let go of Alex’s arm and walked with him to Smithers.

“Alex, good to see you again!” Smithers greeted. He glanced at Jack and asked, “and may I ask who this is?”

“Jack Starbright,” Jack answered. “I’m Alex’s guardian.”

Smithers turned to Alex. “She’s American!” he exclaimed and then directed his attention back to Jack. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Starbright.”

“And you, as well,” Jack responded, shaking Smithers' hand.

“Now that you two are acquainted, I believe that you, Mr. Smithers, are to show me what gadgets I’ll be receiving for the - trip,” Alex said, rolling his eyes as he said the last word. Getting the gadgets tended to be the only enjoyable aspect of Alex’s plights by the hands - more like claws - of Blunt and Jones. Even the times he got to use the gadgets were bad as when it happened he was usually in some life or death situation.

“Of course,” Smithers responded, “Since I was told of the circumstance yesterday, I was not able to create or even design any new gadgets so you will be using items from previous missions.” 

“That’s fine. At least I’ll already know how to use them.” Alex shrugged. Smithers nodded in response and pulled out a small bag. He unzipped the bag to reveal - nothing.

Alex stared down at the bag for a moment. Then up at Jack who made the universal gesture for “I don’t know what’s going on”. He then turned to Smithers and raised his eyebrows waiting for an explanation. 

“This bag may seem empty to you but this is because it has a false bottom for anything you wish to keep secret,” Smithers explained. He demonstrated how to remove the false bottom and underneath it, four items were revealed.

“I haven’t had that on a mission before.” Alex realized.

“We already have bags like this for the adult agents so I didn’t have to specialize anything for you,” Smithers replied.

“Oh, but why do I need to hide the gadgets?” Alex asked. “Aren’t the gadgets specifically designed for me so that I don’t need to do that?”

“That’s because this time you will be surrounded by invasive 15 year-olds. If you just casually left out, say the inhaler.” Smithers explained while picking an inhaler up out of the false bottom. “There is no doubt in my mind that one of your classmates will start messing with it, accidentally twist the canister the wrong way, and BOOM! There goes their hand.”

Jack’s eyes widened slightly, “That’s not really an explosive is it?” She asked Smithers. It was Alex who ended up answering her.

“It is.” He said, “It’s from the mission that I went to space. If I remember correctly, its main use is as knockout gas but if you twist the canister it becomes a hand grenade.”

“Glad to see my gadgets are being remembered.” Smithers smiled. He turned to Jack and told her, “I’m sure you have loads of questions Ms. Starbright. But I must ask you to refrain from asking them until after I tell Alex which gadgets he will be getting as we are short on time.” Jack stepped back a little to show that she would try to restrain herself from asking too many questions.

“Brilliant,” Smithers said. He reached back into the bag and brought out the three other small objects. He held them up one at a time, explaining each one quickly. “The Mosquito Lotion. I figured this might come in use as Brecon Beacons is probably swarming with bugs.” Alex said nothing but did nod in agreement.

“We also have the CD player. I was told to not give you the Beethoven CD as you should only use this to alert MI6 if by rare chance anything does happen. But I am going to give you the CD anyway as what’s a CD player without a CD! Lastly, I decided you should have what every teenager needs, Zit Cream. Do you need a refresher on what any of them do?”

“No,” Alex said, smirking a little. “I remember.”

Smithers chuckled in response and began packing up the gadgets. Jack’s face was twisted into a look of utter confusion. Alex turned towards her, amused by her expression.

“Do you not remember me explaining any of my missions to you?” He said. While yes, his missions weren’t the most pleasant experiences to look back on Jack insisted that he told her what happened on all of them. Generally, he spent most of the talk describing the gadgets. If there was one thing Jack should remember, it was the gadgets.

“Yes, I remember.” She retorted. Rolling her eyes at him. “I just never expected them to look so much like the normal versions.” During the short exchange, Smithers had completed the task of concealing the gadgets under the false bottom. He checked the watch he wore on his chubby left wrist and handed the bag to Alex.

“It appears we have run out of time. You might want to take a few things from your bag and put them into this one.” He said, nodding to the bag. “That way it won’t be suspicious that you decided to bring an empty bag with you on the ‘trip’. Goodbye, Alex. Ms. Starbright.”

“Goodbye, Smithers,” Alex responded. “I’d say see you soon. But no offense, I’d prefer to not need to.” 

“I understand.” Smithers nodded once more to Jack and then he walked off to get to the driver’s seat of the van. Once he was gone Alex remembered the question he had wanted to ask Jack.

“Hey Jack, I was just wondering. Did you by chance happen to say my name? First or last - when you called the cab or maybe when we got into the cab?” He asked, horrendously failing at his attempt to make it seem casual.

“No,” She responded, “I didn’t say your name at all.”

Alex bit his lip, his suspicion for Mr. Patrick the cabbie increasing tenfold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gadgets can be looked up on the Alex Rider wiki page if anyone cares.
> 
> Stingo Mosquito Lotion
> 
> Cutter CD Player
> 
> Inhaler
> 
> The Zit Cream


End file.
